Koré Surukun naamio - Bambara - Mali

Bambaran suurin ja lopullinen initiaatiosäätiö pidetään tiedon huippuna, tekojen älykkyytenä ja Jumalan todellisena tuntemuksena. Tälle initiaation ymmärryksen tasolle pilkka ja satiiri omistavat henkisen puhdistusarvon. Maskin kantaja on todellinen pyhä narri. Orthod? To exercise his “priesthood,” the Kòré Duga wears the Kòré Suruku mask, which represents the head of a mythical hyena whose features are grossly exaggerated: an exaggeratedly bulging forehead, large straight and pointed ears, a very long and high nose, large eyes, and an open mouth. These different parts of the mask symbolize, respectively, the supernatural intelligence of the Kòré Duga, his constant vigilance, his vitality, his accurate vision of things, and finally his proverbial gluttony in the domain of knowledge acquisition, as well as the abundance of his speech. The mask has small vertical slits (scarifications) across the entire width of the forehead and below the eyes, and three long slits along each side, from the base of the ears to the mouth. In the center of the forehead, on a long stem, there is a delicately sculpted figure of a woman, with a height that exceeds that of the ears. There are traces of blue coloring inside the ears, the scarifications and the eyes.
Provenance: N Gom Codov, Paris
Argiles collection, Barcelona